Today, we did two different hikes near Bled, Slovenia and I could not stop ogling at the gorgeous autumn foliage. It’s spectacular! Plus the sun was out and there was a crisp breeze so the weather was ideal for hiking.

The second big leg of our travels is through Europe—where we are now. When planning how to spend our allowed three months here (because Visas), Andrew had Scandinavia on the top of his list. Since it’s so far North, we knew it would be our first stop, before it gets too cold. (Side note: it’s still pretty cold.)

The good news is that my hiatus from this blog is over. The bad news is that I really slacked on blogging about some pretty cool places and—because I’m trying to be realistic here—am unlikely to go back and catch up now with very much detail. In fact, I don’t even have it in me to catch you all up in one single post, so this will be a multi-parter.

You can read part 1 here, which outlines the first 10 days of trekking the Annapurna Circuit.

After we crossed Thorong La (our big 17,700-foot accomplishment of the trek) on Day 10, our hike down from the pass was mostly steep, steep, STEEP! It was a vast contrast from everything else we had experienced and it was painful in a whole new way we didn't expect.

It has been two whole weeks since we got off the Annapurna trail through the Himalayas and returned to “normal” travel life—moving by cars, trains, and planes instead of our own two feet. And although I was happy for a rest and some clean fresh laundry, I find myself looking at photos from the trail nearly every day, still in awe of the Annapurna Conservation Area. I loved the trek so much that I left the trail with a list of thru hikes to complete in 2019 and a renewed desire to trail run.

Anyway, it is about time I share some stories and photos from this incredible trek.

I said goodbye as we went into the Himalayas to hike the Annapurna Circuit, but didn’t explain much else. So, below are answers to some questions I had about the circuit when I first heard about it. Hopefully, this will help future posts make more sense.

Kathmandu is dusty, hot, and crowded. But also, colorful and sensational. The people are friendly and appear devoutly religious. But I will let Kelsey elaborate in another post—just know it is an overwhelming place for the first-time visitor. Fortunately, we had Monica—Kelsey’s childhood friend who lives and studies Buddhism in Kathmandu—to show us around for a few days.

If I was a responsible blogger, I would use this space to tell you all about the ruins of Angkor in Cambodia. This would serve two purposes. First, it would explain to you what you are actually looking at in the photos below. And second, it would distract you while your wifi struggles to load my dozen or so images.